Fatehabad, July 22
Detection of two cases of dengue at Dhangar village near here has put the the health authorities on the alert. Both patients are schoolchildren and have been admitted to Agroha Medical College for treatment.

The patients, Rinku (12) and Sumesh (10), have been suffering from high fever for past some days and on testing their blood samples they were found deficient in platelets, an indication of dengue.

The district health department has said that Rawalpindi is so far safe from dengue as all possible measures have been taken to control the mosquito-borne infection in urban and suburban areas.

Executive District Officer (EDO) Health Dr Zafar Iqbal Gondal told Dawn that broad application of insecticides using portable and truck-mounted machines was being carried out in the district to prevent mosquito breeding.

He said mapping of areas in and around the city had been carried based on the experience of last year when six cases of dengue fever were reported to hospitals in Rawalpindi.

By Neha Rathi

New Delhi:People go to hospitals to get cured of deadly diseases and ailments. But what if the hospitals become the breeding grounds for diseases like malaria and dengue?

According to a report published by MCD's health department figures, various police stations and hospitals in the city have recorded over 10 per cent breeding levels, putting them in a high breeding category. Hauz Khas, Prasad Nagar, Lodhi Road, Sriniwaspuri are the police stations, while GTB, SDN and Escorts are the hospitals that have recorded high breeding.

The number of Dengue fever cases being reported in Male' and other islands of Maldives is increasing rapidly, a report by Department of Public Health (DPH) has revealed.

The health ministry on Thursday put hospitals in the capital on alert as one more positive case of dengue fever was confirmed by National Institute of Health and vowed to prevent the disease from becoming a serious threat to public health this year.

The second dengue fever case is also being treated at Polyclinic Hospital.

The first case was reported on Wednesday when a Frontier Constabulary jawan Jannas Khan tested positive and became the first case of this season.

Doctors detected the first positive case of dengue fever of the season on Wednesday and warned of possible outbreak of the disease in the capital city. A Frontier Constabulary constable was the first to contract the disease from the barracks where he had been staying. He was later admitted to Polyclinic Hospital with high fever, where he is still being treated. "We are sure that he contracted the disease from there because he had not been out of the city for the past 30 days,' doctor treating him at the hospital said.

Six people were admitted to different hospitals in the capital yesterday with dengue infection.

With these six patients, at least 27 have so far been diagnosed with dengue in the city since July 1 till July 16, said Nasim-us-Seraj, the chief entomologist of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC).

Aside from the six patients hospitalised yesterday, 15 others hospitalised before are still undergoing treatment, he added.

Fall in day and night temperatures due to early onset of the monsoon and critically high mosquito breeding indices being recorded in several areas across the Capital have once again given rise to fears of a dengue outbreak looming large over Delhi. In the light of this development, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on Tuesday said it is initiating a series of measures to prevent vector-borne diseases.

High breeding index

Hospitals and police stations are leading in the list of defaulters in dengue prevention measures. According to MCD's health department figures, various police stations and hospitals in the city have recorded over 10% breeding levels, which already puts them in a high breeding category. In surveys being carried out on breeding, MCD has also identified various establishments such as colonies and educational institutions that have not cared to follow the directives on dengue prevention.